Electric letter-box



(No Model.) I 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. O. A. PINKHAM.

ELECTRIC LETTER BOX. No. 469,181. Patented Feb. 16, 1892.

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(No Model.)

0. A. PINKHAM. ELECTRIC LETTER BOX.

1%. 469,181. Patentedf'eb. 16, 1892 ir gin ms NORRIS wrrcm ca, mom-mum, WASkl-NGYON. l7 c4 UNITED STATES I PATENT OFFIC CHARLES A. PINKHAM, OF VVOLLASTON, MASSACHUSETTS;

ELECTRIC LETTER-BOX.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 469,181, dated February 16, 1892.

Application filed July 3, 1891. Serial No. 398,406- (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES A. PINKHAM, a citizen of the United States, residing at Wollaston, in the county of Norfolk and'State of Massachusetts, have invented certain Improvements in Electric Letter-Boxes, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making part of this specification, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of a letterbox embodying my invention, a portion of one side being broken away to show the interior construction. Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the same. Fig. 3 is a vertical section of the same, showing the position of the parts when the door is open. Fig. 4 is a detail, to be referred to. I

My invention relates to a letter-box or other receptacle which is provided with electrical connections, whereby immediate notice will be given to a person in a house or office when a letter or other matter is deposited in the box, or the presence of such matter therein indicated at any time by pressing a button or key located at any convenient point; and my invention consists in a letter-box or other receptacle arranged in an electric circuit having an alarm or indicator, said box being provided with mechanism of novel construction, whereby an alarm will be sounded when a letter or other matter is dropped into the box and the main circuit simultaneously connected with an auxilia y or branch circuit provided with a push-button or key, which, when pressed, will at any time cause the alarm to be sounded in case the box contains a letter or other matter, the mechanism being so arranged that the opening of the door of the box to remove the mail or other matter therefrom will sound the alarm, cut out the branch circuit, and leave the parts in a position to operate as before, when matter is again deposited in the box.

In the said drawings, A represents a metallic letter box or receptacle of any suitable shape or size, which is adapted to be bolted or otherwise securely fastened to a wall or other surface. In the front side of the box is the usual slot or narrow aperture at for the introduction of'letters or other mail-matter, and within the box, immediately under the slot C6, is pivoted or hinged a lid or coveringplate B, which is provided with a weight b, by means of which it is kept normally up against the slot at to close the same, the said covering-plate yielding freely against the letter or'other article pushed through the slota and automatically resuming its original position as soon as the letter or article has passed down into the box.

The box Ais provided below the letter-slot a, with a door 0, which, when-open, allows the contents of the box to be removed, said door having, as usual, a suitable lock D.

To the back plate 0 of the box A'is secured a thick plate or block E, of hard rubber or other suitable insulating material, to which are secured three binding-posts d e f and the circuit-closers, to be presently described.

G G are the wires of the main electric circuit, which are connected with the bindingposts cl e and with the poles of a battery or generator II, and in this circuit is placed an electrical alarm or indicator I of any approved construction. In practice the bell orindicator I is placed in the office or room of the owner of the box, while the box itself is located in the hall or near the main entrance of the building.

K represents a branch circuit, which is connected with the bell -or indicator I and with the binding-postf of the plate E, and in this circuit is placed a push-button or key L for a purpose to be hereinafter explained M N are two levers pivoted to opposite sides of the plate E and projecting above its top into a position to be moved by the contact therewith of a pin g, secured to and projecting laterally from the hinged lid or covering plate B as the latter is swung inward by the introduction of a letter or other matter into the box through the slot a. The lever M, which is electrically connected with the binding-post d by a wire h is kept normally against a stop t by a spring 70, and when moved toward the back plate 0 by the pin g of the plate B, as described, is brought into contact with a flat contact-strip or spring Z, electrically connected with the binding-post e bya'wire m,

the circuit being thus closed the instant the lid or plate B is swung inward by the passage of a letter, causing the alarm-bell I to be sounded, thus notifying the proprietor that a letter has been deposited in the box. \Vhen, however, the lid or plate B is swung back to its original position by its weight b after the passage of the letter into the box, the pin g no longer bears against the lever M, and the latteris drawn back by its spring is awayfrom the contact-spring Z, as seen in Fig. 1, when the main circuit G G will be broken and the bell I will cease to ring, thus preventing the running down of the battery. The lever N on the opposite side of the plate E forms the movable portion of the circuit-closer,by means of which the branch circuit containing the push-button L is connected with the main circuit by the movement of the lid or plate B, produced by placing a letter or other matter in the box A. ihis leverN is fulcrumed at n, where its pivot is electrically connected with the wire rm on the opposite side of the plate E, said wire extending to the binding-post c. The upper end of thelonger arm of the lever N extends above the top of the plate E, as before described, into a position to be moved by the pin g of the lid B simultaneously with the lever M, the shorter arm lO of said lever N, which is nearly at a right angle with its longer arm, having secured to its outerend alight spring 1), the opposite end of which is secured to a pin q, so placed with relation to the point 12, where the springfis secured to the arm 10, that it will hold the lever N with its longer arm against the stop-pin r. A slight. inward movement of the lever N, caused by the movement of the pin g, in contact with its upper end, will, however, carry the outer end of the shorter arm 10, having the spring 19, attached thereto, sufficiently below the level of the pin (1, to which the opposite end of the spring 19 is attached, to cause said spring 19 to carry the lever N over the center into the position shown dotted in Fig. 2, when it will be brought into contact with a flat contact strip or spring 3, electrically connected by a wire ton the opposite side of the plate E with the binding-post f, and in this manner the circuit-closers of the main and branch circuitsare both simultaneously closed at the box, the current through the main circuit causing the bellI to ring during the time that the letter or ,other matter is being placed within the box, while the circuit-closer N of the branch circuit is kept closed by the spring p in such manner that the alarm can be rung at any time by pressure on the button or key L until after 'the door 0 has been opened and the contents of the box removed, it being thus possible for the proprietor to ascertain at any time by pressure on the button or key 'L the presence of mail-matter within the box.

To return the circuit-closing lever N to its original position on the opening of the main door 0, so that when said door is closed after removing the .contents of the box the parts -may be again in a position to act as previously described, I provide a bell-crank lever Q, which is pivoted to the plate E at w and electrically connected at that point with the wire h on the opposite side of said plate E. To the inner end of the lever Q is secured a strong spiral spring a, the upper end of which is attached to the plate E, said spring, when the main door 0 is open, serving to hold the lever Q in the position seen in Fig. 3, with its arm 20 extending out beyond the edge of the plate E, and when the door 0 is closed it will press the arm 20 inward against the stress of the spring a, carrying down the arm 21 into the position seen in Fig. 2, in which position it will be sufficiently below the shorter arm 10 of the lever N to permit the latter to be thrown over by its spring 19 when actuated by the pin g of the lid or plate B, as before described. When, however, the door 0 is opened to remove the contents of the box, the spring a, being much stronger than the spring 23, will instantly draw up the arm 21 of the lever Q, causing it, by contact with the arm 10 of the circuit-closing lever N, to return the latter to its normal position, as seen in Fig. 3, ready to act, as before, on the introduction of a letter or other matterinto the box A.

While the door is open and the arm 21 of the lever Q is in contact with the arm 10 of the leverN the electric current will pass from the binding-post e by the wire on to the lever N, with which it is connected, thence to the lever Q in contact with the lever N, as shown in Fig. 3, and by the wire h, connected therewith at its pivot to the binding-post d, the circuit being thus completed, causing the bell to ring continuously as long as the door 0 remains open, whereby the proprietor is notitied in case any one should pick the lock or break open the door.

The circuit-closing device N, which is ap plied to the branch circuit, I regard as a novel and important feature of my invention, as it will be seen that after it has been once operated by the movement of the lid or cover ing-plate Bit will remain in the position seen in dotted lines in Fig. 2 and keep the circuit closed at that point until the door ofthe box or receptacle has been opened to remove the contents, while it in no wise interferes with IIO the movement of the said lid or covering-plate B, which can be freely swung on its pivot as often as desired, without in any way affecting or moving the circuit-closer N until thelatter has been operated to open the circuit by the opening of the door 0 of the box, and by this construction it will be obvious that the introduction of a letter or other article into the box through the slot at will always leave the branch circuit in condition to be closed by the button or key L to ring the alarm, and thus indicate at a distant point the presence of mail-matter within the box, which will be found a great convenience.

To the top of the box A is secured a rack S for holding newspapers and other packages too large to be passed through the letter-slot a, the bottom plate R of said rack extending over the letter-slot a and serving as a guard therefor to exclude rain or snow. The inner side of the plate or block E and the mechanism attached thereto is to be covered by a plate T, Fig. 4, in order to protect the same and prevent any injury to the parts by mailmatter thrust through the slot a.

lVhat I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination,with the electric circuit and the alarm or indicator included therein, of a letter-box or other receptacle provided with a circuit-closer operated by the introduction of a letter or other'matter within the box to actuate the alarm or indicator, a branch circuit having a push-button or key located at a distant point, and a circuit-closer for connecting said branch circuit with the main cir- I cuit, said branch-circuit closer being actuated by the introduction of a letter or other matter within the box, whereby the presence of such matter can be at any time ascertained by operating said push-button or key, substantially as set forth.

2. A circuit-closer for letter-boxes or other receptacles, consisting of a lever or arm adapted to be operated by the movement of a lid or slot-closing plate on the introduction of a letter or other matter Within the box to close a bell or indicator-circuit provided with a pushbutton or key, said circuit remaining closed at the box until the door of the box or receptacle is opened, combined with a device con trolled by said door and adapted on the opening of the same to move the circuit-closer and break the circuit at the box, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination, with an electric circuit and an alarm or indicator included therein, ot a letter-box or other receptacle provided with a door and with a self-closing lid or slotcovering plate, a main-circuit closeradapted to be operated to close the circuit by the movement of said lid or slot-covering plateto actuate the hell or indicator, a branch circuit provided with a push-button or key, acircuitcloser for said branch circuit, adapted to be actuated by the movement of said lid or slotclosing plate to connect said branch circuit with the main circuit, said branch-circuit closer when thrown over to close the circuit remaining at rest until the door of the box is opened, and the lever controlled by the door for breaking the branch circuit at the box on the opening of the door, substantially as set forth.

4. The combination,with the electric circuit and an alarm or indicator included therein, of a letter-box or other receptacleprovlded with a self-closing lid or slot-coverlng plate,

a main-circuit closer adapted to be operated .means, such as a spring-actuated lever, for returning the branch-circuit closer to its original position to break the branch circuit at the box when the door of the latter is opened to remove its contents, substantially as set forth.

5. The combination, with an electric circuit and an alarm or indicator included therein, of a letter-box or other receptacle A, provided with a self-closing lid or slot-covering plate B, having a pin g projecting therefrom, a main-circuit closer consisting of a lever M, pivoted to the insulating-block E and provided with the spring and operated by said pin g to contact with the strip Z and thereby close the main circuit, the branch circuit K, provided with the-push-button or key L, the circuit-closing lever N, pivoted to the block E and extending up into the path of the pin g, to be actuated thereby simultaneously with the lever M and adapted to connect the branch circuit with the main circuit When the lid or plate B is moved by the introduction of a letter or other matter within the box A, said lever M being provided with a spring 17, adapted to complete the throw of said lever after it has been moved over the center by the pin g, wherebyit is brought into contact with the strip 8 to close the circuit, and the bell-crank lever Q with its spring a, adapted to bear against the door 0 and return the circuit-closer N to its normal position and break the circuit when said door 0 is opened, substantially as described.

Witness my hand this 27th day of June, A, D. 1891.

CHARLES A. PlNKHAM.

In presence of- P. E. TESOHEMAGHER, HARRY W. AIKEN. 

